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Side effects of DHEA/Pregnenolone

For those who supplement with DHEA or pregnenolone have you noticed any negative side effects? I'm definitely seeing some positive benefits like increased energy, improved sleeping, amongst others, but my hunger has been out of control ever since I increased my dose.

Not on the hunger realm but I did get heart palps from too much preg. I started that one first ended up cutting the dose in half and it was fine. Then a few weeks later I added the DHEA and definitely better sleep, which had already gotten better from CT.

Maybe you are burning more energy thus your body wants more food???? Maybe the dose is too high??? Just throwing some things out there as I don't really know.

BK, are you still using the powder form I sent you the link (was that you?)? B/c I've noticed you gotta be careful with the dosing with the little scoops... they are very inaccurate. I got a mini scale now and noticed the preg is much more for one scoop than the DHEA in mg.

Patty Cakes;34998 wrote: Not on the hunger realm but I did get heart palps from too much preg. I started that one first ended up cutting the dose in half and it was fine. Then a few weeks later I added the DHEA and definitely better sleep, which had already gotten better from CT.

Maybe you are burning more energy thus your body wants more food???? Maybe the dose is too high??? Just throwing some things out there as I don't really know.

It's a nice thought that maybe I'm burning more energy . . . could be. I definitely have felt a surge in energy the last week. I've been increasing my dose based on info from Dr. Kruse in my consult last week, so I think I'm headed in the right direction. I'm just trying to figure out where the insatiable hunger is coming from!!

Souldanzer;35024 wrote: BK, are you still using the powder form I sent you the link (was that you?)? B/c I've noticed you gotta be careful with the dosing with the little scoops... they are very inaccurate. I got a mini scale now and noticed the preg is much more for one scoop than the DHEA in mg.

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Hey Soul,

Yes, I'm the one that got the pure powders. I am weighing my doses out on a mini scale too - I can't say they are always exact. Even with the scale that's difficult to do with the powder, but I'm close - always within 10 grams of my target. I shoot for 100 mg of both pregnenolone and DHEA in the AM and 100 mg pregnenolone and 50 mg DHEA in the afternoon. According to Dr. Kruse, I could probably even increase my DHEA a bit more to 200 mg total per day, but I'm doing a gradual titration . . . much unlike what I want to do

Thanks for the link Jennifer! I don't think I've gone hyper because I don't have any other hyper symptoms and I was extremely low in T3 and somewhat low in T4 as well. I can't imagine the preg would have converted enough to make up for my deficiencies. Dr K even suggested I take straight T3 since I'm so low. I basically have none in my body!!

hmm, maybe your body is busier making hormones or something?? I guess just eat according to what your body needs right now...keep us posted how it all works out. Now that my cycle is back, I am noticing hungry days and full days again. I had forgotten about that!

My heart rate just in the past couple of days shot up to 90! I wonder if the preg is finally doing something. I have only been taking it for about 4 weeks and DHEA for about 2 weeks. I was wondering if my T3 dose needed to be lowered. I'm going to investigate this a little further since I don't want to go hyper. Thanks!

Patty Cakes;35268 wrote: My heart rate just in the past couple of days shot up to 90! I wonder if the preg is finally doing something. I have only been taking it for about 4 weeks and DHEA for about 2 weeks. I was wondering if my T3 dose needed to be lowered. I'm going to investigate this a little further since I don't want to go hyper. Thanks!

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Sure...this is what he said:

But pregnenolone not only increased progesterone but must have increased cortisol.

With better cortisol, you have suddenly found your self with too much thyroid hormone activity.

Well that makes perfect sense! I probably do need to lower my dose a bit. My doc trusts me and lets me dose as needed. She knows I'd rather not take anything at all. Obviously I don't want a low T3 since it turns out to be harmful! I think all the years I went with untreated hypo

Patty Cakes;35268 wrote: My heart rate just in the past couple of days shot up to 90! I wonder if the preg is finally doing something. I have only been taking it for about 4 weeks and DHEA for about 2 weeks. I was wondering if my T3 dose needed to be lowered. I'm going to investigate this a little further since I don't want to go hyper. Thanks!

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Patty, how much of Preg and DHEA do you take daily? I just got 30 mg of Preg to start with. Is your DHEA keto or a regular one?

Hi Destiny! I take 50 mg of preg and 25 DHEA and 100 7 Keto. The DHEA was a LEF brand product and I haven't felt anything bad from it. However the last two days tells me something is going on. I have a consult today and will ask the doc but believe that I need to lower the T3. I just checked and my heart rate is back down to the high 70s which is still a little high for me.

You should be fine with 30 mg of preg. Let us know if you feel anything from that.

Patty Cakes;35310 wrote: Hi Destiny! I take 50 mg of preg and 25 DHEA and 100 7 Keto. The DHEA was a LEF brand product and I haven't felt anything bad from it. However the last two days tells me something is going on. I have a consult today and will ask the doc but believe that I need to lower the T3. I just checked and my heart rate is back down to the high 70s which is still a little high for me.

You should be fine with 30 mg of preg. Let us know if you feel anything from that.

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Thank you, Patty! I have my first endo appointment tomorrow. We shall see.

Anyone know if too much DHEA can have a paradoxical effect? I started sleeping really well when I began to take it and went up to 120mg per day.... no side effects at all. I loved it.

Then my skiing accident happened and two weeks later, while CTing like crazy (pretty much 24/7), my sleep went entirely bye bye. Eventually I dropped the DHEA and within a few days I was sleeping again.

Started DHEA again after AN relapse and everything was well as long as I stay under 50mg per day. Took it up a notch yesterday just to try it out (probably 80mg) also while increasing CT these days to prepare for getting my PFO fixed.... and boom I'm up again in the middle of the night.

I'm curiously waiting for saliva cortisol results which will include a DHEA-S. But meanwhile... does it sound like my DHEA might be going too high instead and ruining my sleep? I'm wondering if a lot of CT and that much supplementing is too much.

Souldanzer;35418 wrote: Anyone know if too much DHEA can have a paradoxical effect? I started sleeping really well when I began to take it and went up to 120mg per day.... no side effects at all. I loved it.

Then my skiing accident happened and two weeks later, while CTing like crazy (pretty much 24/7), my sleep went entirely bye bye. Eventually I dropped the DHEA and within a few days I was sleeping again.

Started DHEA again after AN relapse and everything was well as long as I stay under 50mg per day. Took it up a notch yesterday just to try it out (probably 80mg) also while increasing CT these days to prepare for getting my PFO fixed.... and boom I'm up again in the middle of the night.

I'm curiously waiting for saliva cortisol results which will include a DHEA-S. But meanwhile... does it sound like my DHEA might be going too high instead and ruining my sleep? I'm wondering if a lot of CT and that much supplementing is too much.

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You think that salivary Dheas is reliable? My salivary Dheas was high for my age (50) at 10.8. So I am wondering is I should start with a small dose of preg and then add the Dhea and 7 Keto.